'Man United have level for so long - we need the same been at the elite like us - and now mental toughness' Newcastle Eagles are going through their worst run for six years, but Lynard Stewart takes comfort from the struggles of champions in another sport. Mark Douglas reports.

Byline: Mark Douglas 

NEWCASTLE Eagles have long aspired to be the Manchester United of British basketball, but lately that analogy cuts a little too close to the bone for a club that has made winning a thing of routine.

They may not enjoy the profile or turnover of the highly-decorated Premier League champions but the Eagles have won titles and trophies with a glorious monotony that justifies the comparison.

But like Sir Alex Ferguson's champions, signs of vulnerability have been creeping into the Eagles for the first time in six years. Three consecutive defeats - including being turned over at BBL whipping boys Plymouth a fortnight ago - have prompted a bout of soul searching in the Eagles squad and some awkward questions about the ability of a group widely tipped to replicate last year's treble-winning campaign.

It is not a situation that a club with ten pieces of silverware in the last five years and three successive league championships is used to - and veteran Lynard Stewart admits that the players have been left dazed and confused by the sudden slump in form.

So it gave him some perverse comfort to watch the struggles of the previously untouchable United when he returned to his front room after Sunday's dispiriting BBL Cup defeat to Chester.

"I do follow football and I can imagine what's going on in Manchester United's dressing room - it's probably the same thing that's happening in ours," he said.

"They've been at an elite stage for so long, like us, that as soon as they lose a couple of games everyone is on them. It's funny, it does offer you a bit of comfort because you see that it happens in all sports. If it happens to them, it can happen to anyone.

"At the end of the season we'll probably see Manchester United at the top of the league again, because they have that mental toughness. That's what we need now - it is what we need as an organisation. Basketball is a mental test as much as anything and I think last season teams were coming onto the court against us and feeling they were already beaten. They would think 'We aren't going to win'.

"But now they've seen us losing to Plymouth and Chester and they'll be thinking that we're not so strong anymore.

"I understand that but they need to know that we're getting better.

"We're preparing right, we're doing things properly and we'll come back stronger." With their season stuttering, the Eagles need players with experience and the 33-year-old Stewart is attempting to be a voice of reason within the squad.

While others are muttering about the size of the roster - the Eagles are running with a squad one man lighter than last year as a cost-cutting exercise - Stewart is concentrating on how to put things right.

And he believes that the bout of adversity may just benefit the Eagles in the long run.

"I wouldn't want it to happen but I think you learn more when you lose games than when you win them. It has helped us in a way because we can see what we've not being doing and the things that we need to correct and do better. "We're learning, we're preparing better for games and we're building on some of the things that we've not been doing right.

"The biggest of that is the defence, I think.

"We know it's not right but we're not panicking. We've lost this number of games before - we lost more last year - but losing them consecutively is the big thing. Losing Fab didn't help and we haven't made the adjustments to playing without him. To be honest, we don't really know each other well enough to get through it - at times we're still getting to know one another and it's hurt us."

Like United, the Eagles lost key personnel over the summer and are struggling to adapt.

For the incomparable Cristiano Ronaldo, read one of the BBL's most consistent players Trey Moore and one of it's most engaging talents in Tafari Toney. Both left the Eagles over the summer with Joe Chapman the single new recruit.

While he struggles to adapt to life in the North East, the Eagles have had their wings clipped.

Stewart is honest enough to admit that the team is missing both players but feels that the Eagles should be able to adapt because their success has been built on unity and togetherness.

"It's a group effort and it always has been at the Eagles. We obviously miss those guys but it's impossible to say that we'd be doing better if Trey or Tap was in but Fab was injured," he said. "I can't really honestly say whether it would make a difference. There would be a little less pressure on the guys because there would be one more body but Newcastle Eagles has always been about the team ethic so we can't just blame losing one player."

At least there is one silver lining for the likeable Stewart, who nearly retired in the summer after a serious knee injury that ruled him out for most of last season.

He has played in every game so far this season and his troublesome knee is holding up well - which has eased some of the fears that he had before the campaign began.

"I was afraid early on. My knee felt funny at times in the game - I think it was adjusting to pounding on the court and the constant hard work.

"But now it's fine. "I don't even know why I wear the knee brace anymore - I don't need it!

"At times in practice I don't even lace it up, but I guess it's just there for comfort."

CAPTION(S):

WHEN HEROES TAKE A FALL Newcastle Eagles' Lynard Stewart, far left, yesterday drew parallels with the struggles faced by Manchester United this season, with the reigning BBL champions suffering three straight defeats and forced to cope without Trey Moore, top inset, and Tafari Toney, bottom, who have left the club, as well as injured player-coach Fab Flournoy, left. Below, Red Devils' midfielder Darren Fletcher shows his frustration at a season which has yet to ignite for his side.